World Heritage Sites (K) and World Natural Heritage (N)
- original farming village Vlkolínec belonging to Ružomberok (K; 1993)
- Spis Castle (Spissky Hrad) with the city church plan (Spišské Podhradie) and Zipser chapter (Spišská Kapitula) (K; 1993)
- Mining town of Banská Štiavnica (Schemnitz) (K; 1993)
- Caves in the Aggtelek and Slovak Karst (N; 1995)
- Old town of Bardejov (Bartfeld) (K; 2000)
- Primeval beech forests of the Carpathian Mountains (N; 2007)
- Wooden churches in the Carpathian Mountains (K; 2008)
Historic Center of Bardejov (World Heritage)
With its completely preserved old town from the 15th – 17th centuries, Bardejov is an outstanding example of the urban development of the German colonization in the east with the typical elongated rectangular shape of the market square. The Aegidius Church from 1247, the Gansaughof, the town hall built in 1505 and the city wall are all worth seeing.
Historical center of Bardejov: facts
| Official title: | Historic center of Bardejov |
| Cultural monument: | Almost completely and true to the original restored medieval trading town; irregular trapezoidal layout with regular road network; almost completely preserved city fortifications with eleven mostly semicircular bastions and moats (14th – 16th centuries); Church of St. Giles (built at the beginning of the 15th century on the site of a Cistercian monastery, extensively restored in 1725 and 1878, interior furnishings 1479–85), eleven Gothic winged altars (1460–1520); Market square (14th century) lined with numerous old town houses; Renaissance town hall (1505–1511), synagogue (late 18th century), grammar school (1508) |
| Continent: | Europe |
| Country: | Slovak Republic |
| Location: | Bardejov, Presov region, northern eastern Slovakia |
| Appointment: | 2000 |
| Meaning: | Typical medieval town on an important trade route |
Historical center of Bardejov: history
| 1241 | First documentary mention |
| 1320 | Granting of trade privileges by the Hungarian King Charles I Robert |
| 1352 | Start of construction of the city wall, eight-day trade fair for the first time |
| 1367 | Rank of a Free Royal City, thereby numerous privileges |
| 1402/03 | Polish occupation |
| 15./16. Century | Heyday of the city; Numerous traders and guilds settled, a grammar school was established and a theater was founded |
| 17./18. Century | Decline of the city, repeated sieges |
| 1679 and 1710-11 | Plague in the city |
| Middle of the 18th century | Foundation of a Jewish settlement outside the city wall |
| 1878 | Destruction of a large part of the city by conflagration |
| 1950 | Monument protection, restorations |
Culture
Slovak culture emerged in a melting pot of other Slavic, Hungarian, Austrian and German influences. Evidence of specifically Slovak art and architecture are z. B. Romanesque castles (Spiš Castle) or the wooden church in Hervatov.
Literature began on Slovak soil with orally handed down folk goods and the creators of the Slavic script Kyrillos and Methodios, who translated religious scripts into Old Slavonic in the 9th century. Until the 19th century, literary genres of Slovak writers developed in close connection with Bohemia and in the Czech language. Authentic Slovak literature emerged in the mid-19th century with the literary language created by L’udovít Štúr . Ivan Krasko founded Slovak modernism. System-critical writer of the 20th century was M. Rúfus , who was repeatedly nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature, and L. Mňačko . A specific feature of both Slovak and Czech authors is that many of them write for adults and for children, like Vincent Šikula (* 1936, † 2001), who is connected to his home country.
In Slovak music, besides Slavic roots, there are mainly Austro-Hungarian influences, as evidenced by music research and archaeological finds of musical instruments that are still played today (fujara, bagpipes). In the 19th century, with the composer Ján Levoslav Bella (* 1843, † 1936), the Slovak national music was created. B. to E. Suchoň and J. Cikker. Jazz, rock, electric blues, hip-hop and other styles also established themselves here (rock group “Živé Kvety”, English living flowers).
The Bratislava classical music festival, which has been taking place since 1965, the Zvolen theater festival and the folklore festivals in Detva and Myjava are very popular. In 2013, Košice was European Capital of Culture together with Marseille and has since experienced a major economic and cultural boom.
The director J. Kadár received the Oscar for best foreign film in 1956 for “The Store on the Corso”. One of the internationally best-known Slovak actresses is Barbora Bobul’ová (* 1974).
The most successful international sport is ice hockey, although soccer is even more popular. The professional cyclist P. Sagan won the road world championship three times in a row. Other popular sports include mountain biking, water sports, climbing, caving, horse riding, golf, paragliding, tennis and – given the success – winter sports. A popular national sport is cycling at all altitudes.
